An Alembic "Jam Scene".

[Zut8083]

Well, I'll be honest,

I have been sitting and thinking whether to bring up an idea that could really stink or could ultimately turn out well and be fun.  I have seen that there are annual NorCal get togethers along with the occasional/annual meet up somewhere in the US for the Alembic family.  But, there are a lot of Alembicians who don't have the opportunity to make these get togethers for whatever reason.  That missed opportunity makes me sad for folks who are otherwise unable to hang out, as these gatherings seem like a lot of fun, especially the jams and jocularity.  And the food.

I wondered if it would be fun, or if it would be a pain, to get eager Alembic fans who could either use a program to record music, and/or interface with each other on the internet, a la perform from your livingroom, and then make the stream or finished tune available for the appreciation of the intellectual products coming from different ensembles.  The "battle of the bands" approach is probably harder than is necessary, whereas a looser jam session coming online to the interested parties could be easier to organize and access.  With jamming over familiar tunes, it probably would be faster to participate in and enjoy the process without disrupting any of the players' work, familial, or musical commitments and schedules.

I had been thinking this idea over since spring, but I couldn't figure out whether the idea would be deemed blase, boring, rude, or insulting in comparison to the formal/official get togethers organized by Alembic, which is not my goal.  But with that being said off the bat, hopefully any obtuseness of this proposal could be better dismissed or forgiven, and people could say whether or not they were interested in playing in a, um, "potentially recurring, short-term long-distance musical relationship".
 
So, if anything like this sounds remotely appealing, I'd like to know.  Also, what suggestions and changes would you make regarding this undertaking based on your experience and opinions if you have any interest?  Thanks.

Cheers,
-Zut

[David Houck]

Except for the "battle of the bands" approach, I think the overall idea is a good one.  (I don't care for battles of the bands.)

While I have posted links to covers that I have uploaded to SoundCloud (which have been made "private", so not easily found by folks not members of this club), my recent research suggests that, for instance, uploading a cover you make in your bedroom to YouTube is a copyright violation unless you have obtained permission to cover the tune.  And given that our club is very closely associated with the website of a for-profit music industry business, that could technically be a little problematic.

Which is to say that jamming to "progressions" rather than actual covers might be easier from a legal standpoint.

The recordings should represent different genres, as the members of our club play widely differing types of music.

Perhaps the hard part will fall to whomever takes on the responsibility of coordinating contributions from various members for each tune and then mixing and editing the recordings.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Except for the "battle of the bands" approach, I think the overall idea is a good one.  (I don't care for battles of the bands.)

Besides, wouldn't it be hard for everyone to rent out their local armory for a night?

Peter

[David Houck]

... wouldn't it be hard for everyone to rent out their local armory for a night?

If by "rent" you're referring to paying money, well yes; that could be an issue.  And then you'd have to decorate the place ... and clean the bathrooms at the end of the night.

[elwoodblue]

"Also, what suggestions and changes would you make regarding this undertaking based on your experience and opinions if you have any interest? "

 
  Can we arrange to have the results aired simultaneously on two different radio stations?
 ...you know, for the quadraphonics 

 

Another random thought....Someone needs to capture the crazy distortion from an Alembic as
the battery dies . Maybe in a rhythmic loop 

[Zut8083]

Dave- I, too, am not a fan of a Battle of the Bands format, really.  It seems overly competitive when the idea is more of a live collaboration.  Google updated Jam to Chrome's plug-in "Jam Live", but I have yet to check it out for sound fidelity and hiccups.  There are other ways to connect for a freeform jam, I am sure.  The only good thing a battle of the bands thing allows is the side-by-side enjoyment of arranged and performed tunes which different groups of people from the Forum have produced.  But, the campy 1970s/1980s/1990s "rock fight" is not really what I want; the original term was probably a bad choice.  Sorry.

In terms of copyrighted material, I think that so long as we don't sell the recording or profit from songs registered with ASCAP, BMI, or use other people's tunes that are on their way to being copyrighted, I think it might be Fair Use under the 1976 Copyright Act, flying under "educational use" as we are here to learn but have fun.  And it also might not; I am not an attorney, and even less of one specializing in IP.  But, I assume solutions can be found.  I think that everyone who wants to show up can join in and just improvise, assuming the bandwidth is wide enough.  If Frank Zappa, The Allmans, The Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, (Scofield) Medeski, Martin, and Wood, etc. all found the most perilous and exciting thing to do was to improvise melody lines and harmonies over (un)defined chord changes, well, why not us, too?  We would just need to define guidelines to prevent an internet traffic jam of music.  We just may need to prepare libations in advance, individually.

Peter- I actually live near Fort Ord, CA and the Presidio of Monterey.  It might not be a hard for some as one might think from the outset.   

We might need a console sooner than I anticipated.

If this takes root, what do we wanna call this?  I'm just putting "Retort" out there, like "Friday Night Retort", "Saturday Night Retort", "Weekend Retort".  No, wait.  That last one will get a cease and desist letter for sure.  "Weather Retort"!  Yeah, that's totally safe!

[Zut8083]

I just re-read Dave's response and my own, and I want to amend mine: "What he said."

Thank you.

[pauldo]

Another random thought....Someone needs to capture the crazy distortion from an Alembic as
the battery dies . Maybe in a rhythmic loop 

YES!  ^^^ Love that. 

Actually the idea of a progression with people playing it in their favorite style sounds fun.  Could be an epic challenge for the producer that needs to stitch it together...  but then again, sometimes the raw pebble is prettier than the polished stone.

If it were to be posted publicly I would think the Motherships blessing would be required.

[David Houck]

I was actually thinking more in terms of each person downloading a recording, adding their part, and then uploading back for the next person to add theirs, which I took to be one of the options you mentioned in your first post.

For instance, since we happen to have a lot of bass players, if you charted a tune that was essentially five times through the verse, you could have five different players laying down a bass line, each taking one verse.  Other players could add rhythm, chords, melody, melodic lines, lead, etc, for different verses.

Whether that's simpler or more complicated than the live video jam thing, I have no idea.

[Zut8083]

Hi, Dave-

I am sorry for not being clear after amending my long response.  To be clear I agree with your assertion about the ease of sharing and contributing to files that are recorded independently by club members and free from any possible IP infraction, while eschewing a live jam for a variety of salient logistical reasons. 

It is indeed much easier, and more private, to download or upload work you want to contribute to or debut, or to add tracks to files for a wide palate of possible takes involving different players on their chosen instrument(s).  Again, I think that's much better than what I was initially suggesting with a jam, which could also be cool if it would work, except it probably won't, and it may unfairly be an inflexible way of asking Forum members to participate in the spur of the moment with any lag problems.  As I feel that would be worse than a more relaxed and inclusive alternative.  I am fully onboard with your proposed way forward, please excuse my earlier confusion.

How do you all suggest we begin this process, assuming the Forum is at all interested, and if we can proceed if we are given Alembic's approval?  I think Pauldo is right, this is indeed unofficially associated with their brand, and it is an appropriate mark of courtesy and respect to ask the Mothership if they have any reservations about this endeavor.  I just would prefer to not be the one to ask, however. 

Thank you.

-Zut